British North America1763-1787

Britain and Early Canada:

Revolutionary War Creates

Two Nations© Ruth Writer

1763MajorEvents: Turning Points

Treaty of Paris

Pontiac’s Rebellion

Proclamation of 1763

ConquestTURNING POINT IN HISTORY

Now what to do???

Really 15 colonies to deal with in 1763

French speaking Catholic population—70,000

Quebec [New France]

Acadia

Plus Newfoundland and Hudson Bay Co.—neither considered part of BNA [Canada]

13 colonies with new sense of empowerment

“These two nations at war over a few snow bound acres in the region of Canada are spending more than all of Canada is worth.”

~Voltaire

BUT…

Exports from New France=14,000# [furs, etc.]

Exports from Caribbean=6,000,000# [sugar]...

SUGAR WON

Treaty of Paris—1763Britain and France at war for century

Peace between Britain & France on continent

New France abandoned by France

France got St. Pierre and Miquelon

Rum running

Pirates

France also got Caribbean islands

Sugar v. Snow—SUGAR WINS

Did not lead to harmony in BNA

“With a scratch of a pen”

“half a continent changed hands” over night

Split continent between Britain and Spain

Peace did more than shift boundaries

Flags lowered and raised

Set people and events in motion

West for expansion—some lived there

Natives

Traders

Speculators now had interest

Impact of the ConquestSeminal Event in Canada

Practical--VICTORY

New area of control over former enemy

Political power—new British colonies

Economic power—fur trade was BIG prize

Symbolic – one two punch

Defeat of the French

Abandoned by French

Impact even now in Canada—I REMEMBER

Reality Check

Treaty brought little peace—

Natives waged war & turmoil

70,000 new French residents of British colonies

Canadiens—different population, culture, language, religion

Americans never more British than in 1763

Looked forward to golden age with the blessings of British

Political civilization could be extended to west

Calloway, Colin G. The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Pontiac’s Rebellion

French and Indian War left bitter legacy

Assured a bloody future

Economic tensions

Violence increasingly racial—ethnic cleansing

Increasing boundaries

More rigid

More violent

More ethnic and cultural

Pontiac’s Rebellion

http://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/Indians1763.html

Proclamation of 1763

Line drawn [not in sand] at mountains

Separate Native and whites

George C. Bingham. “Daniel Boone Leading Settlers through the Cumberland Gap”

http://www.slideshare.net/coach1517/french-indian-war

1763-1791Post Conquest

Period of experimentation in Canada

How to pay for the Conquest?

Someone had to pay these expenses

Reasonable to expect colonists to bear some of $

War had been fought for them…right?

American Revolution—1775-1783

Dealing with Loyalists

Dilemma of Quebec

Problem with citizens of Quebec

Impossible to deport—been there done that

Impossible to convert

New England merchants arrived to fill void

Wanted economic and political power

Voting rights

13 colonies upset over Native lands to west

Allied with French during war

Sent British troops to maintain peace with Natives

BNA Problematic

Troops needed to guard against another war

Pay for troops

No taxation without representation

Pontiac’s Rebellion--1763

Detroit under siege

Niles, Fort Michilimackinac

Proclamation of 1763—line drawn

SET STAGE FOR REVOLUTION

Quebec Act—1774Guarantee of French Survival

Freedom of religion for Catholics

Gave Catholics more political rights in Canada

French civil law retained—business, property

No elected assembly

But Catholics could hold local office

Church permitted to own land, collect tithes

Seigneurial system retained—no land taken

New borders

Sherman, George. The Canada Connection in American History: A Guide for Teachers. Plattsburgh: Center for the Study of Canada, SUNY Plattsburgh, 1992.

In Your Face

New borders

Mississippi Valley

Great Lakes

Louisiana to Rockies

Hemmed in Americans hurt land speculators

Colonies fought against French

Now gave land to enemy

BIG step toward revolution

Escalating Tensions

Proclamation of 1763

Navigation Acts of 1764

Stamp Act of 1765

Townshend Act of 1767

Tea Tax of 1770

Boston Tea Party of 1773

Quebec Act of 1774

Intolerable Acts of 1774

Revolutionary War

Know of this but not Canadian role

Two nations born

Civil war according to Canada

THREE VIEWPOINTS— Tories, Rebels, Undecided plus Natives

Issues Trade

Territory

Taxes

Troops

Attempt to involve Canada

After Lexington/Concord hoped for ally April 1775--Disappointed

Nova Scotia sympathized but…

French Canadians: little love for England, but…

Less trust of Americans—power grab

Fear of religious intolerance

Quebec Act=respect by British was good deal

French no democratic tradition

Invasion of Canada

S. Adams & Hancock sent to Quebec but British tried to arrest for treason

August 1775—General Montgomery thru NY

Stole food, firewood

Imprisoned priests, desecrated altar and shrines

Franklin arrived too late to investigate—fall of Montreal

Later Arnold thru Maine via Nova Scotia to join Montgomery [Quebec City]—bad winter

New Year’s Eve--1775

Americans attacked walled Quebec City

Attack failed Cold, poorly equipped

Blizzard

400 captured [Montgomery dead; Arnold wounded]

Aaron Burr retreated—siege continued

Scurvy, smallpox, frostbite

No reinforcements—Washington problems

Arnold became traitor as result

Invasion of Quebec 1775

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Invasion_of_Canada_(1775)#/media/File:American_attack_on_Quebec.svg

Molly Brant

Mohawk leader

“Married” to Sir William Johnson

Allied with British in Revolution

Became refugee to Canada after war

"Johnson Hall by Henry" by Edward Lawson Henry (1841–1919) - Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Treaty of Versailles 1783

British admitted defeat after Yorktown 1781

Britain recognized USA as new nation

Generous land settlements to USA [50%]

Franklin wanted all of North America

Used natural boundaries and 49th parallel

Canada not conquered had remained loyal

BUT British North America stripped of land

Threw in fur trade network—MI part of USA

North America--1783

http://www.irwinator.com/1783map.jpg

TWO NATIONS BORN

United States of America

British North America

REVOLUTION V. EVOLUTION

Loyalists

Thousands did not support rebellion—Now what…

Issues

Economic relations with Britain

Patriotism—loyal to king—good citizens

Family ties

Natives [Iroquois] allied with Britain

Location, location, location

Demography—Age and race

Persecution

Sense of tradition

Conservatives

United Empire Loyalists

John David Kelly. “United Empire Loyalists landing at the site of Saint John, New Brunswick, 1783.” circa 1829

Migration Routes

Western Nova Scotia/became New Brunswick

Cape Breton Island and PEI

Eastern Townships of Quebec

Western Quebec/Ontario

Iroquois

Black Loyalists

Routes of Loyalist Immigration

Sherman, George. The Canada Connection in American History: A Guide for Teachers. Plattsburgh: Center for the Study of Canada, SUNY Plattsburgh, 1992.

Preparation for Loyalists BUT…

Land grants

Confusion

Dilemmas with francophone population

British governor sympathetic with USA

Still hardships

Suspicious

Resources

Brown, Craig. The Illustrated History of Canada. Toronto: Lester Publishing Limited, 2007.

Calloway, Colin G. The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America.New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

See, Scott W. The History of Canada. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2001.

Sherman, George. The Canada Connection in American History: A Guide for Teachers.Plattsburgh: Center for the Study of Canada, SUNY Plattsburgh, 1992.